Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Bill Would Remove Drug from
Controlled Substances Act, Lets States Set Own Policies

Washington,
D.C. – Today, Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT),
submitted a bill to the Senate that would end marijuana prohibition on the
federal level and allow states to decide their own marijuana policies. This is the
first bill of its kind to propose removing mention of marijuana from the Controlled
Substances Act. Marijuana is currently a Schedule I drug, meaning the
federal government claims it has no medical or therapeutic uses, is extremely
dangerous and addictive, and cannot be used safely, even in a clinical setting.
Under the Ending
Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2015, it would still be illegal to
transport marijuana from a state where it is legal into another state where it
is not. More than 700,000
people were arrested for marijuana offenses in the U.S. last year,
amounting to significant money, time, and human resources wasted damaging the
lives of nonviolent offenders.

“Many
legislators and citizens are still hesitant to move forward with marijuana
legalization initiatives in their home states because of the federal ban, which
may contradict state law, making both laws difficult to follow or enforce, and
making banking transactions all but impossible.” said Maj. Neill Franklin (Ret.),
executive director for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a criminal justice group working to legalize
marijuana.

The
introduction comes shortly after a Gallup poll
showed 58% of Americans support marijuana legalization, regulation, and
taxation, and after Senator Sanders’s announcement of his own support of legalization,
the first major-party presidential candidate to do so. Three other bills to
reform marijuana policy have been introduced at the federal level this year. Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand
(D-NY), and Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the CARERS Act, a comprehensive medical
marijuana legalization bill. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced a bill to address
the tax status of marijuana businesses, and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced
a measure that would allow state-legal marijuana businesses access to banking services.

Marijuana
is legal for adults to possess and grow in Washington, D.C., and regulated in
Colorado, Washington, Alaska, and Oregon for adults 21 and older.

1 comment:

I live in Alabama. It's a shame and a gross injustice to lock anyone away in jail for a year for one marijuana cigarette. This is insane legislation. What are you afraid of ? Are you so afraid of smokers that even though there are people from all professions that smoke and pose no threat to anyone. In the name of Jesus Christ legalize it.